Letter: Creepy, not sexist

Editor Felice Belman asks “Was Marland’s Ayotte cartoon out of bounds?” No, I don’t think so. Was it sexist? I don’t think so, although there was something creepy about it when I first saw it. The other images on the page showed me why.

Sarah Palin was drawn with dog hair and nose, Mitt Romney with dog ears, and John Boehner with dog ears and teeth. Sen. Kelly Ayotte had a human face, ears and teeth with a dog’s body, which caught my eye immediately, but I never thought it suggested “a combination of subservience, sexuality and gender roles” because she was “positioned in his crotch,” pawing at his thighs, as letter writer Jonathan Cohen says (“Sexist cartoon,” Monitor letter, April 26).

Washington has corrupted Ayotte. Years ago Sen. John McCain was a maverick who bucked the neo-cons and George W. Bush in his first term as president. He made a deal with the devil when he promised to support W with the Iraq war in exchange for the candidacy in 2010. He wasn’t counting on W’s drop in likability, but it was too late; he had already betrayed his “maverick” supporters. Ayotte has made the same mistake with McCain and Sen. Lindsey Graham when they tried to discredit Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in preparation for 2016, and she will regret it.

She has now sold her soul to the NRA and the good old boys.

Yes, the lapdog image was right on; it just would have looked better with dog ears and nose.